Cracks emerge between Umno and Bersatu days after Ismail named PM

Cracks emerge between Umno and Bersatu days after Ismail named PM

Even as Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was enjoying his first moments on the job, a seemingly innocuous dispute over whether his new government is a continuation of the Perikatan Nasional administration of Muhyiddin Yassin seemed to expose underlying tensions.

Muhyiddin, in congratulating Ismail Sabri, had notably called it a PN government

“I give him my full support and God willing, I will continue to help the PN government deliver the best service to the people, especially during the country’s recovery period.

“I pray that Ismail Sabri will be able to shoulder as best as possible the responsibilities and lead the country to success,” he said in a post on his Facebook page yesterday.

Fellow Bersatu leader Azmin Ali was also quoted as saying “I believe Ismail Sabri will continue to lead the PN government” with a focus on the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery.

This is also the second time Muhyiddin has called Ismail Sabri’s government a PN one, instead of a BN one.

With 50 MPs, PN is the largest partner in the Ismail Sabri government, which has the support of 114 MPs. The prime minister’s own BN coalition has 42 MPs.

Muhyiddin and Azmin helped trigger the collapse of the elected Pakatan Harapan government last year and set up the PN government, only to see it disintegrate when Umno MPs began to withdraw support for Muhyiddin.

Since Bersatu crossed the floor to team up with Umno, PAS, GPS and other minor parties, it has also lost its position at the helm of the state governments of Perak, Kedah and Johor.

Ahmad Maslan, Rahman Dahlan rebut PN govt idea

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan made his views clear when he announced that the new government is “not a PN government” but a “Malaysian government” including parties from BN, PN, Gabungan Parti Sarawak as well as Parti Bersatu Sabah.

“It’s a mixed government. PN only had Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan and STAR, and not BN, GPS and PBS,” said the Pontian MP.

Former minister and Umno Supreme Council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan went further, even disputing that Muhyiddin’s regime was a PN government.

“The previous PN government was really a misnomer. There was no PN govt, so to speak.

“It was a coalition of BN, PN, PBS and GPS… BN was never a component party of PN.

“Today marks the end of the so-called PN govt,” he tweeted.

Ismail Sabri was sworn in as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister yesterday after securing the support of 114 MPs.

Muhyiddin had previously said that support for Ismail Sabri from PN's 50 lawmakers was on the condition that no one facing criminal charges in court would be appointed to the cabinet.

This was seen as an attempt to block Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - who is on trial for corruption - and some of his followers from being appointed to office.

It was Zahid’s faction in Umno had been responsible for ousting the Bersatu president from the prime minister post.